Shedding one uniform for another, Spencer Armstrong has been road-tripping with a U-Haul trailer from Boston to Las Vegas, but his GPS is firmly programmed for a destination across the U.S./Canada border.

Finally, after being selected by the Calgary Stampeders in the 2009 Canadian Football League Canadian draft, the 27-year-old deep threat receiver out of the Air Force Academy is set to arrive at McMahon Stadium. He plans to be in Calgary Saturday night and, hopefully, on the field Sunday when the team returns from its’ bye week.

“It’s going to be a quick transition,” admitted Armstrong, who hasn’t caught a football in a game since Dec. 31, 2008, his final game with the Falcons. “But I’m ready for it. Hopefully, the rust I have will be able to be shaken off pretty fast so I can contribute any way possible to the team.”

The rust, however, might not have accumulated as much as you’d think.

There’s the obvious question marks surrounding the Toronto-born, and Henderson, Nev.-raised former military man, who is somewhat of an enigma to the Stampeders. How is he going to handle a live practice? Is he in game shape? Is his speed up to par?

But after the training he’s been able to do as a member of the U.S. Air Force and muscle mass he has been able to put on, Armstrong says he’s in the best shape of his life.

“Athletically, I’ve gotten a lot stronger,” said the six-foot-one, 200-pounder who has gone from 9.2 per cent body fat to 5.1 since he was at school. “In college, I don’t know if it just took my body longer to develop, but I’m definitely a lot stronger than I was then. As far as speed, I’m pretty much where I was at my senior year. Speed-wise, I’m good too. It’s kind of a surprise, but I think with this time off, I’ve been able to develop athletically and get stronger and faster.

“Hopefully, it transfers to the field and I’m not just some meathead running around out there.”

When the Stampeders selected Armstrong, impressed with his blocking ability and running, they fully knew he was to serve a military commitment. At the time, he was stationed at the Nellis Air Force Base in Las Vegas and was scheduled to report to the team in 2011. However, he had his bid for an early exit denied (twice) — which is often given to promising athletes with professional careers — and wound up serving until finally securing his release earlier this summer.

Armstrong was stationed at the Hanscom Air Force base in the Boston area but was previously stationed in the U.S. Air Force in Kuwait. He worked as a contracting officer, basically acting as a business adviser to the Air Force which would acquire services, commodities, and construction projects through outside sources.

“It was a high demand job so they weren’t able to release me as soon as I’d hoped,” said Armstrong, whose dad, Roy Armstrong is with the Canadian Armed Forces currently deployed in Afghanistan. “It’s what I signed up for and I enjoyed my time in the Air Force and I’m ready to pursue my second dream which is to play professional football.”

With that dream in the back of his mind, his typical (disciplined) days looked like this: morning workout around 7 a.m., work, a lunchtime session in the weight room, more work, and field training/route running at Harvard University until 8 p.m. (It should be noted, too, that on his voyage from Boston to Las Vegas to Calgary, he has been pulling into road stops to get his workouts in). So, the physical aspects have been well taken care of.

But Armstrong feels learning the three-down game will be his biggest challenge.

“For me, I think the biggest transition will be the CFL game itself as opposed to the American game,” said Armstrong, who is considered a non-import because he was born in Canada and lived there until elementary school. “I’ve been studying my playbook pretty hard and trying to learn the different intricacies of the CFL as far as route-running and all that good stuff so I think that’s going to be harder to adjust to once I get up there.”

Armstrong expressed gratitude to Stampeders general manager John Hufnagel and the team for waiting this long, especially through all of the uncertainties surrounding his military commitment.

“I’m so thankful for the organization,” he said. “They’ve been so patient with me through the ups and downs, mostly downs, of getting their hopes up and telling them, ‘Hey, it’s looking good.’ And the next thing you know, they draw me right back. Which is what I signed up to do. But they were pretty excited for me to come up there.

“For them to be as patient as they have been with me, I’m truly blessed and thankful for it.”

Through the beauty of Twitter, ESPN 2, and the Internet, Armstrong has been keeping tabs on the Stampeders receiving corps and the progress of the 4-1 group that went into the bye week with last Friday’s 37-24 victory over the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.

No surprise, he’s excited to join in on the action.

“They’ve been tearing it up out there,” Armstrong said, calling from just outside of Las Vegas where he owns a house. “I don’t want to come in and ruin any of their mojo or anything. I’m just looking for any way I can contribute and keep their success going.”

kodland@calgaryherald.comFollow on Twitter/KristenOdlandCH

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